Project A (film)

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Project A
Project A Poster.jpg
Hong Kong theatrical poster
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese A計劃
Simplified Chinese A计划
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin "A" Jìhuà
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping "A" Gai3 Waak6
Directed by Jackie Chan
Written byJackie Chan
Edward Tang
Produced by Raymond Chow
Leonard Ho
Edward Tang
StarringJackie Chan
Sammo Hung
Yuen Biao
Dick Wei
Lee Hoi-san
Mars
CinematographyCheung Yiu Tsou
Edited byPeter Cheung
Music by Michael Lai
Distributed by Golden Harvest
Media Asia Group
Release date
  • 22 December 1983 (1983-12-22)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryHong Kong
Language Cantonese
Box officeUS$18 million (est.)

Isabella Wong is the only female actress with a substantial role in this film. She has film credits for cameo appearances in the sequel Project A Part II and in Police Story 2 .

Title

In the 1980s, Chan chose vague, generic film titles such as Project A and Police Story so as not to give the plots of the films away prior to their release. It was felt that the titles of previous Chan films such as Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master gave too much away about the kung fu style they featured (Snake Style and Drunken Fist respectively). Project A was originally going to be titled Pirate Patrol, but it was feared that once announced, other Hong Kong film producers would rush to copy and release films featuring pirates. [1]

Production

Project A
Traditional Chinese A計劃
Simplified Chinese A计划
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin "A" jìhuà
Wade–Giles "A" Chi-hua
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization "A" Ji hwa
Jyutping "A" Gai3 Waak6

On the audio commentary of the Hong Kong Legends (Region 2) DVD, Bey Logan reveals that Chan's last period film, Dragon Lord (1982), had under-performed at the Hong Kong box office in comparison to the previous one, The Young Master (1980). Logan identifies that a possible reason for the poor performance was the comparative lack of action. Edward Tang and the production team felt that a period film could still have success if it had sufficient action, and so researched the history of Hong Kong during the time of pirates for Project A.

Unlike other Hollywood period films that are set on an exact time and place, many Hong Kong films play fast and loose with their period in history. A prominent example by Bey Logan is set like this: the Hong Kong Marine Police is set up in 1846 by the British Colonial Government. The Hong Kong Headquarters is set up in 1884. The Kowloon Canton Railway Clock tower is set up in 1915. In other words, this film takes place between the 19th and early 20th century. Jackie and the Golden Harvest team employ some researchers to come up with background for this story about pirates in Hong Kong and are not really concerned at all about depicting the film in the exact era.

Project A marks the first time that veteran Michael Lai used orchestral music for a film score, instead of using library music or lifting the score from other films.

In rehearsal for the clock tower fall, Chan took a week to build the courage to drop from such a great height. During the shooting of the bicycle chase sequence, one of the stuntmen informed Chan that E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was playing at the local cinema. Chan halted filming to watch the bicycle chase scene in the finale of E.T., to ensure that his scene and Steven Spielberg's scene were not the same. After watching the film, Chan became more confident, realizing that the audience doesn't really care so much about such minor details, only in watching the film and having a good time. According to his book I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action, Chan injured his neck while filming the scene. [2]

After appearing in The Cannonball Run (1981), Chan liked the idea of including bloopers over the closing credits. Beginning with Dragon Lord, he has included (and directed) outtakes over the end credits for most of his films, including Project A, and they have become something of a Chan trademark. Due to the nature of his films, Chan's outtakes are a combination of comedic moments and injuries sustained whilst he and his team perform stunts and fight sequences. These outtakes were enjoyed particularly by audiences in Japan—so much so that Japanese film companies would demand the inclusion of "NGs" ("no good" shots) in the distribution contracts for all Jackie Chan films, regardless of director.

While some of Chan's comedy stunt work in Project A has similarities to the comedy stunt work of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, Chan had not seen their films at the time, as they were not available on home video. According to Chan, Project A was an evolution of the action stunt work he had already been doing in earlier kung fu comedy films since The Young Master (1980). He only became aware of Keaton later from Western critics who watched Project A and drew comparisons, after which Chan watched Keaton's films when they eventually became available on home video and realized how similar Keaton is to himself. [3]

Release

Project A was released in Hong Kong on 22 December 1983. In the Philippines, the film was originally released as Mark of the Dragon, but First Films later rereleased it as Superfly 2 on 17 September 1992, connecting it to the unrelated film Armour of God II: Operation Condor (released as Superfly). [4]

Box office

Project A (along with Dragon Lord ) marked Chan's return to Asian cinema after his first attempt to break into the Hollywood market with a small role in The Cannonball Run and a starring role in the commercially disappointing Battle Creek Brawl . In contrast, Project A was a huge success at the Hong Kong box office, earning HK$19,323,824 [5] ( US$2,659,852). [6]

It was also very well received abroad, and particularly throughout East Asia. Reportedly, in Japan, Emperor Showa's fondness of the film and eagerness to see a sequel led Chan to make Project A Part II . [1] At the Japan box office, Project A grossed ¥2.95 billion [7] (US$12.42 million), [8] becoming one of the top three highest-grossing foreign films of 1984 (along with another Jackie Chan starrer Cannonball Run II ) [9] and the year's sixth highest-grossing film overall. [7]

In Taiwan, it was one of the top five highest-grossing films of 1984, with 369,914 admissions grossing NT$ 24,170,723 [10] (US$611,777). [11] In South Korea, it was the highest-grossing film of 1984 [12] with 396,436 ticket sales, [13] grossing an estimated ₩ 1,189,308,000 [14] (US$1,475,612). [15] In France, the film sold 200,498 tickets in 1988, [16] equivalent to an estimated €741,843 [17] (US$877,229). Combined, the film grossed an estimated total of approximately US$18,044,470(equivalent to $55,000,000 in 2023) in Asia and Europe.

Critical reception

Project A was met with positive reviews. In his annual film guide, Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide , Maltin rated the film 3 out of 4 stars. The film was praised by the Los Angeles Times . [18]

The film has an 77% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 13 reviews. [19]

Accolades

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Project A, Audio commentary (Bey Logan), Project A: A Classic Revisited, Disc 2 (DVD). UK: Hong Kong Legends.
  2. ↑ Chan, Jackie. "Jackie's Aches and Pains: It Only Hurts When I'm Not Laughing". Random House. Archived from the original on 18 February 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  3. ↑ Havis, Richard James (14 June 2020). "Jackie Chan on Project A, the martial arts film that set a creative template for his decades of show business success" . South China Morning Post . Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020. 'Critics often compare your work in Project A to that of silent film stars like Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. I'm guessing you had not actually seen the work of those stars when you made Project A.'
    'Yes, that's right. I didn't actually see films by Buster Keaton until later – there were no videos back then. What happened was Western critics would always say that I was like Buster Keaton, and I noticed they seemed to like it if I agreed and said he influenced me. So I said he had.
    'But really, I had worked out that for myself. I was actually already doing these kind of things in The Young Master. Then one day, new technology comes out – the video – and I had a chance to look at Buster Keaton films. I thought, Wow I really do seem to be like this guy!'
  4. ↑ "'High Adventure' Starts Today". Manila Standard . Kamahalan Publishing Corp. 17 September 1992. p. 23. Retrieved 17 November 2020– via Google News Archive. Starring Samo Hung • Yuen Biao • Mars • Dick Wei • Isabella Wong...
  5. ↑ "Project A". hkmdb.com. Hong Kong Movie Database. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
  6. ↑ "Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average)". World Bank . 1983. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  7. 1 2 "【ジャッキーチェン興行成績】 第12回：日本での興行収入" [[Jackie Chan box office results] 12th: Box office revenue in Japan]. KungFu Tube (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  8. ↑ "Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) - Japan". worldbank.org. World Bank. 1984. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  9. ↑ "1984年（1月～12月）". Eiren.org. Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  10. ↑ "1984 Taiwan Box Office". National Chengchi University . 19 February 2001. Archived from the original on 19 February 2001. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  11. ↑ "Historical exchange rates (TWD)". fxtop.com. December 1984. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  12. ↑ "【ジャッキーチェン興行成績】 第10回：韓国での興行収入" [[Jackie Chan box office results] 10th: Box office revenue in South Korea]. KungFu Tube (in Japanese). 5 September 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  13. ↑ "KOFIC 영화관 입장권 통합전산망" [KOFIC Cinema Ticket Integrated Computer Network]. kobis.or.kr (in Korean). Korean Film Council. September 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  14. ↑ Park, Seung Hyun (2000). A Cultural Interpretation of Korean Cinema, 1988-1997. Indiana University. p. 119. Average Ticket Prices in Korea, 1974-1997 [...] * Source: Korea Cinema Yearbook (1997-1998) * Currency: won [...] Foreign [...] 1984 [...] 3,000
  15. ↑ "Official exchange rate (KRW per US$, period average)". worldbank.org. World Bank. 1984. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  16. ↑ Soyer, Renaud (4 February 2014). "Jackie Chan Box Office". Box Office Story (in French). Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  17. ↑ "Cinema market". Cinema, TV and radio in the EU: Statistics on audiovisual services (Data 1980-2002) (2003 ed.). Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. 2003. pp. 31–64 (61). ISBN   92-894-5709-0. ISSN   1725-4515 . Retrieved 23 May 2020.{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  18. ↑ Thomas, Kevin (21 March 1994). "Chan Combines Slapstick, Martial Arts in 'Project A'". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  19. ↑ Project A at Rotten Tomatoes
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